THE CRUELEST SOUNDS

One of the cruelest sounds on Earth is the low, penetrating rumble of a bulldozer raping and bespoiling a piece of our once-beautiful planet, permanently destroying yet another ecosystem, yet another piece where nature will no longer be allowed to thrive.

There is a failure to acknowledge the life, from insects to plants, that has developed on the land we break up and claim for ourselves. Worse, the vibrations of the bulldozers are only the precursors of more destruction to come, for instead of being allowed to bloom with all of its life force and diversity, the land being torn apart is usually doomed to be suffocated in concrete and weed killers.

How does a child feel when it is forced to watch its parents be tortured, their bodies ripped apart? This is how I feel when I hear the mean, relentless noise of a bulldozer hurting yet another patch of our once-sacred earth. Such a sadness it brings...

THE HYPOCRISY OF MOURNING SAUDI KING ABDULLAH

We are appalled to see how the world is fawning over the Saudi royal family and lowering flags out of false respect for the death of the incredibly cruel King Abdullah.

This Saudi leader that the world now pretends to mourn was a repressive tyrant whose regime has, among countless terrible acts:
executed people whose crime was that they were accused of being witches,
dragged people through the streets and beheaded them,
flogged women for the outrageous crime of driving a car,
and, most recently, sentenced liberal blogger Raif Badawi, who only wanted more freedom, to 1,000 lashes for blasphemy.
Nearly all of the 9/11 hijackers were Saudis!

We try to teach our children how to stand up to bullies, but how can we do this when our own government--liberal and conservative alike--acts with such utter hypocrisy?
We are not endorsing more hatred in the world. We are, however, unhappy that the our own country, with all it stands for, bows before such tyrants. Why?

Oil!

There is, to us, an obvious solution. That solution is to turn to solar and wind (and use the tools available to us to design these resources so they don't kill such great numbers of birds while we're at it.)

We need our politicians to make solar affordable for everyone, not just the rich, so that we can all put solar panels on top of our homes and businesses. We need electric cars that can be plugged into outlets where the energy comes from solar and wind power. This would also put a stop to the devastation caused by oil spills and fracking.

Then we need, gently, to teach our crueler neighbors on Planet Earth about kindness and freedom, rather than fawning over them. It's time to stop the kindergarteners from running the school.

DO NOT BUY LEATHER FROM CHINA

The Chinese are slaughtering dogs for leather in the manufacture of items like leather gloves. Photos of these dogs, cruelly confined and treated, are heart-breaking. According to PETA, these dogs can be skinned while still alive. Please spread the word and boycott all Chinese leather.

http://www.voanews.com/content/rights-groups-critize-use-of-dog-skin-in-china/2562508.html

TURN OFF YOUR OUTDOOR LIGHTS--AND SOME OF THE INDOOR ONES, TOO!

According to the International Dark Sky Association, there are five appalling facts about light pollution you may not have known:

1. Exposure to artificial light at night, particularly light with blue in it like that from TVs and computer screens, puts your health at risk.

2. Light pollution kills millions of birds a year, both from collisions into lit buildings and by disrupting their migratory instincts, as birds navigate at night by starlight and moonlight.

3. Light pollution contributes to climate change by using energy that heats our atmosphere.

4. The seasonal cycle of trees and plants is disrupted by artificial light.

5. Light in the skies from Los Angeles at night can be seen in an airplane from 200 miles away.

Read more about this by going to http://darksky.org/resources/434

CASCADIAN FARMS, GENERAL MILLS, GREEN WASHING, AND BEES

In a sickening example of green washing, Cascadian Farms, a food group owned by General Mills, has recently begun a media blitz dedicated to saving the bees.

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This is hypocrisy at its worst, like slave-owners having an enormous plantation with thousands of slaves, setting aside one small field where there are no slaves, and then proudly proclaiming that they are abolitionists! 

The bulk of food General Mills sells now contains genetically modified ingredients, including many of those nostalgic cereal brands we all grew up with. Anything that has non-organic sugar, cornstarch, canola oil, corn syrup, corn oil, milk (cows may be fed GMO alfa), soy (including soybean oil and soy lecithin), and even eggs (as chickens are fed soy) most certainly contains genetically modified (GMO) ingredients. There is good reason, based on solid studies, showing that GMOs might have dangerous and unwanted consequences in our bodies. But that's not what this article is about. 

Genetically modified food was altered so that it could withstand huge doses of toxic pesticides--the pesticides that are killing our bees, and are the source of Colony Collapse Disorder, killing 30% of our bees and other pollinators each year!

While the fast disappearance of our honeybees is one of the biggest disasters on this planet, Cascadian Farms' bee-saving blitz is blatant green-washing. People need to become aware of what is really going on at General Mills, where 90% of the company is involved in selling us products implicated in killing our bees. Cascadian Farms: if you really want to save bees, start with your parent company!

Note: General Mills has spent over 2 million dollars to defeat GMO labeling in the USA, even though such labeling is standard in other countries. Here are some General Mills brands, all of which almost certainly contain some GMO ingredients: Betty Crocker, Pillsbury, Bisquick, Fiber One, Chex cereals, Wheaties, Kix, Old El Paso, Haagen Dasz Ice Cream, Yoplait. They own many other groups, including Macaroni's Grill.

NEWSCASTERS, BIMBOS, AND SOULS

We live in a whacko world. You never see a gray-headed female senior citizen wearing glasses as a television newscaster; we see primarily young, blonde, skinny bimbos with Valley-girl accents giving us the news (co-hosting with an older guy, of course). Yet who is going to be more astute in their grasp of world events? What the hell is WRONG with us?!?

Once I was at a large conference, sitting in the dining hall and people watching. I suddenly realized that my attention was naturally grabbed by those who looked really attractive, with nice bodies, or those who had something unique about them. The people catching my eye were nearly all younger people.

It occurred to me that there were a great many plain, dumpy, gray-haired, average-looking people in this dining hall whom I was overlooking, and some of them had extraordinary souls.

So I played a little experiment, which I pass on to you to try. I decided that I would shine my full attention and notice primarily on the older, more weary, but doubtlessly soul-rich folks. I would ignore the young and beautiful, and instead focus my gaze on these plain folk with the mindset that they were profoundly interesting people and super stars!

It was fascinating. I met some wonderful people that way. It was an awakening.

I pass on the challenge to all of you, especially as I myself begin to enter the stage inevitable for all of us where my aging appearance does not always reveal the soul that lies underneath! Look for the gray heads. Look for the soul that shines through the eyes instead of the designer dress. You will, I assure you, open up to a whole new world.

THE MINNESOTA VIKINGS' PLAN TO KILL THOUSANDS OF SONGBIRDS EACH YEAR

GOOD NEWS: The Minnesota Vikings are building a new glass stadium. Hooray!
BAD NEWS: Unfortunately, their stadium will kill thousands of birds each year...more than any other building in their state. Boo.
WORSE NEWS: AND...there are options for building it with a type of glass that will NOT cause bird deaths, but they have just rejected those options Outrageous.

Millions of birds are killed each year in collisions with buildings, particularly those covered in glass like the proposed stadium. The Vikings knew about the option of selecting a type of glass that, while being a little more expensive, would have prevented these bird deaths. They recently rejected this option.

Please follow the below link to send them a letter asking them to change their minds. It will only take a few seconds. Next, spread the word. We need this information go viral! People in the USA love football, but we also love our songbirds.

LINK FOR SENDING A LETTER

TO READ MORE DETAILS ABOUT THIS OUTRAGE